Measles, one of the most common contagious diseases, has been thought to enter the body through the surface of airways and lungs, like many other major viruses. Now, Mayo Clinic researchers and their collaborators say that's not the case, and some medical texts will have to be revised. The findings are reported in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

The research team generated a measles virus that cannot enter the airway epithelium and showed that it spread in lymphocytes, cells of the immune system, and remained virulent. Researchers also showed, as they predicted in a new model of infection, that the virus could not cross the respiratory epithelium on its way out of the lungs and was not shed from infected monkeys.

Freshly released spermatozoids don't just achieve fertilization, they must undergo some changes for this to occur. Among those are changes due to receptors situated in the plasmatic membrane (the layer covering the cells) and opioid and cannabinoid receptors are two of these.

On coming into contact with these, physiological reactions are generated in the body which are similar to sedation, analgesia and low blood pressure. According to the research undertaken to date, both substances have an influence on the process of fertilization. It is known that the consumption of external opiates (heroin, methadone) reduces the mobility of spermatozoids and that external cannabinoids (hachis) causes changes in the reproductive process.

Ekaitz Agirregoitia Marcos, from the University of the Basque Country, has concluded that there are opioid and cannabinoid receptors in human sperm and that these influence the mobility of spermatozoid and that his new research on this opens the door to more effective treatment of fertility problems.

What makes a pointer point, a sheep dog herd, and a retriever retrieve? Why do Yorkshire terriers live longer than Great Danes? And how can a tiny Chihuahua possibly be related to a Great Dane?

Dogs vary in size, shape, color, coat length and behavior more than any other animal and until now, this variance has largely been unexplained. Now, scientists have developed a method to identify the genetic basis for this diversity that may have far-reaching benefits for dogs and their owners.

In the cover story of Genetics, research reveals locations in a dog's DNA that contain genes that scientists believe contribute to differences in body and skull shape, weight, fur color and length – and possibly even behavior, trainability and longevity.

Is it worse to be fat or just to feel fat?

Quality of life is lower in obese children but it is unknown how much of that correlates to self-evaluation. If adolescents think they are “far too fat,” they forfeit a lot of their quality of life, whatever their actual weight.

If adolescents consider their weight “just right,” their quality of life is the same as if they were of normal weight, even if this is not true.

The results of a new survey say the proportion of German adolescents who think they are overweight has been increasing more rapidly in recent years than the proportion of those who really are overweight. As children have become fatter more of them still feel pressure to be thin even though they are told they should love themselves for who they are.

PARIS, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Telnic Limited, the Registry Operator and Sponsoring Organization for the new sponsored top level domain (sTLD) .tel, today announced details for launch at the ICANN meeting in Paris. Sunrise applications from national trademark owners will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis as of Wednesday, 3rd December 2008.

.tel enables you to store, update and publish all your contact information, web links and keywords directly on the internet under your own unique domain name. Simple, fast and accessible from any device, .tel provides a new internet standard to take full control over how and where people reach you. The .tel delivers:

Courtesy of the Phoenix landing craft on Mars we just discovered that there is ice on Mars. Now that is cool, very cool! In the last century there has been a constant fascination and debate about whether there might be, or might have been, life on Mars. Well, we still have yet to answer that question with any certainty, but at least we know that there is water in some form on the planet. Where there is water, there is a good chance there might be life. The question is there life elsewhere in the Universe, is a fundamental human question that will ultimately be answered. I am of the school that given the infinite vastness of space, it is a statistical certainty of some other form of highly evolved life (if we can be so charitable as to place our species in that category).

Turmeric, an Asian spice found in many curries, has a long history of use in reducing inflammation, healing wounds and relieving pain, but can it prevent diabetes? Since inflammation plays a big role in many diseases and is believed to be involved in onset of both obesity and Type 2 diabetes, Drew Tortoriello, M.D., an endocrinologist and research scientist at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center, and his colleagues were curious what effect the herb might have on diabetic mice.

Dr. Tortoriello, working with pediatric resident Stuart Weisberg, M.D., Ph.D., and Rudolph Leibel, M.D., fellow endocrinologist and the co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, discovered that turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to developing Type 2 diabetes, based on their blood glucose levels, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests. They also discovered that turmeric-fed obese mice showed significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver compared to controls. They speculate that curcumin, the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant ingredient in turmeric, lessens insulin resistance and prevents Type 2 diabetes in these mouse models by dampening the inflammatory response provoked by obesity.

Individuals who are obese are at increased risk of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. As 75%-95% of previously obese individuals regain their lost weight, many researchers are interested in developing treatments to help individuals maintain their weight loss.

A new study, by Michael Rosenbaum and colleagues, at Columbia University Medical Center, New York, has provided new insight into the critical interaction between the hormone leptin and the brain's response to weight loss.

Leptin levels fall as obese individuals lose weight. So, the authors set out to see whether changes in leptin levels altered activity in the regions of the brain known to have a role in regulating food intake.

More than half of all older adults complain about having difficulties sleeping. Most don't bother seeking treatment. Those who do usually turn either to medications, which can lead to other health problems, or behavior therapies, which are costly and often not available close to home.

Now, UCLA researchers report that practicing tai chi chih, the Westernized version of a 2,000-year-old Chinese martial art, promotes sleep quality in older adults with moderate sleep complaints. The study, which will be published in the journal Sleep, is currently available in the journal's online edition.

In the study, 112 healthy adults ranging in age from 59 to 86 were randomly assigned to one of two groups for a 25-week period: The first group practiced 20 simple tai chi chih moves; the other participated in health education classes that included advice on stress management, diet and sleep habits.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Leading Event on Enterprise Communications Expands to Address European Community

TechWeb (formerly CMP), today announced VoiceCon Amsterdam, the first European venture for the VoiceCon brand. Over the past two decades, VoiceCon has become the event where global business leaders and IT professionals come to learn about the latest in IP Telephony, Unified Communications and Converged Networks. VoiceCon Amsterdam expands to meet new international audiences and is happening October 14-16, 2008 at the Amsterdam RAI. For more information visit http://www.voicecon.eu.